Large Tailed Spindle Viruses of Archaea: a New Way of Doing Viral Business |
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| Authors: | Rebecca Hochstein Daniel Bollschweiler Harald Engelhardt C. Martin Lawrence Mark Young |
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| Affiliation: | aDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, USA;bDepartment of Molecular Structural Biology, Max-Planck-Institute for Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany;cDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, USA;dDepartment of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, USA |
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| Abstract: | Viruses of Archaea continue to surprise us. Archaeal viruses have revealed new morphologies, protein folds, and gene content. This is especially true for large spindle viruses, which infect only Archaea. We present a comparison of particle morphologies, major coat protein structures, and gene content among the five characterized large spindle viruses to elucidate defining characteristics. Structural similarities and a core set of genes support the grouping of the large spindle viruses into a new superfamily. |
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